Introduction - Amanda Bingley

This scoping of National Associations globally was commissioned by Help the Hospices in the month of October 2005 and undertaken by the International Observatory on End of Life Care (IOELC). If collaboration in the future is to be effective, there was felt to be a need to gain a clearer analytic picture of these organisations and to have available a template of their activities and purposes

A short survey was conducted and an initial development of a database of information about National Associations was set up as part of the ongoing task of clarifying the global picture. A brief view of the current global scene suggests that a wide range of organisations is now in existence, variously constituted and with differing mandates and methods of organisation.

There were two aims, first to compile a database of national and other associations involved in hospice and palliative care, globally. Secondly, by means of a small pilot survey, we set out to develop an initial categorisation of these organisations by type, structure and function.

The survey as a scoping exercise gave a very general outline from a few countries of the kinds of associations and their function. National associations, globally, remain firmly rooted in the not for profit, voluntary sector. They are seen to undertake a wide range of diverse functions, although interestingly, the range of functions did not appear to be related to staff numbers. For instance, high numbers of nurses in a hospice association do not necessarily mean the association will be engaged in a many different activities beyond service provision. In contrast, some associations with less than 5 volunteer staff report covering a very wide range of activities.

The process of starting to create a database of national associations facilitated the short survey, and contributed to encouraging support of the work of national associations. The associations reported on in this survey reflect a picture of professionals, who are keen to establish themselves as a powerful national voice for palliative care; they have chosen to found national associations based on a framework of formal structures and constitutions. The increased interest and support in palliative care provision may suggest that these kinds of formal structure have played an important role supporting significant and successful dissemination of knowledge and awareness.

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